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Quick thoughts, links, and pictures. RSS

Robert Chapman·
I remember my dad getting our first "powerful" computer as a kid. My dad had these terminal green computers that he did some word processing on for graduate school papers, but I remember when he brought home a machine with Windows 95 freshly installed, and it felt so much more modern.

He bought Doom. I have no idea why he picked that game, but that's what he bought with the computer. I played the mess out of that game. It was the first game I could play multiplayer on by using the modem to dial my friend's computer and play alongside him.

Looking back now, it seems so primitive in some ways and yet still so modern. As we go through the birth of the intelligence age, I know my own son, who is playing with AI now on his iPad, will look back the same way I did, with both a sense of awe and wonder and nostalgia.

I can't wait to see what technology looks like when he's my age now. It will be spectacular in so many ways.
Robert Chapman·
“Hey, Gemini, who is this person in this picture?

Beep boop, I won’t tell you who that is, as I can’t identify people.

Hey, Google image search, here’s a picture.

Beep boop, oh, that’s so and so; here’s a bunch more pictures of them…”
Robert Chapman·
Chick-fil-A ice cream cones are top tier.
Robert Chapman·
Son’s first rock concert! Foo Fighters!
Robert Chapman·
It was a late show. 😆
Robert Chapman·
Make sure to not have any fun at the Foo Fighters concert 😂
Robert Chapman·
All the hackers have grown up now from DEF CON and run around sounding like mom and dad, and it’s a bit lame. They hide behind being “right,” and it’s sad to watch. It’s not dangerous anymore and everyone knows it. DEF CON is safe and it’s lame.

If you’re a young hacker, it’s time to go start a new thing. Let DEF CON become a memorial to a bygone time. It will be fun and nostalgic and old.
Robert Chapman·
I was wrong! For the first time in recent memory, the goons didn't yell incessantly at everyone! It was weird, honestly. They were still present but genuinely quiet and in the background. When they did raise their voices, it was to be heard, not to yell at you for no good reason. It was a very pleasant surprise and change. Thanks for getting better!
rschapman.com
It’s that time of year again when men and women who have no busines…
It’s that time of year again when men and women who have no business being given any semblance of authority LARP as gestapo and put on their goon uniforms for DEF CON and yell at people for no good…
Robert Chapman·
There’s been a lot of discussion since DEF CON and Black Hat about how good or bad a job OpenAI did in preventing and handling the incident with Hugging Face. I’m a little surprised—I probably shouldn’t be—at how confident people in our industry are that they could do better or even know the full details of the environment to have known if it were even possible without knowledgeable people doing significantly better.

I honestly think there’s a little conflict of interest in some of the criticism. I do think everyone will learn a lot, but there’s also a bunch of “influencers” making a name for themselves by being very vocally critical. It’s cool right now to hate on the frontier labs.

They don’t deserve a pass, but I also think there’s room for a more helpful dialogue. I’ve seen no truly good write-ups from this crowd of how they would have done better, and that’s telling.
Robert Chapman·
Someone drew me last night at our Black Hat party.
Robert Chapman·
I passed my technician ham radio license test today at DEF CON!
Robert Chapman·
It’s that time of year again when men and women who have no business being given any semblance of authority LARP as gestapo and put on their goon uniforms for DEF CON and yell at people for no good reason. Happy hacker summer camp!
Robert Chapman·
195 lbs flat bench for reps today. I haven’t done flat bench in 2 months. Felt good.